In the novel and in Walker’s oeuvre at large, the color purple is associated with Black women’s identity, spirituality, and creativity.

The color purple first appears in the novel when Kate, Albert’s sister, forces Albert to let her take Celie to the store to buy cloth for her first dress. Celie, still reliant on others to define the terms of her identity as a Black woman, wants purple cloth but chooses a drab blue because she fears Albert’s disapproval.

Purple takes on greater symbolic importance as a representation of Black women’s identity during dialogue in which Shug explains her notion that God “loves admiration” and that it “pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it” (195). Here, purple represents the beauty and pleasure available to human senses as a result of a willingness to acknowledge that the here and now and the body through which we experience it are sacred. This passage is also the source of the book title, which shows the importance of Black women’s experience to Walker’s work.

After her discussion with Shug about the color purple, Celie begins seeking out chances to add more color and self-expression to her life.